NICOLE de Jong is trading cuts of meat for upper cuts.
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The Border chef will this weekend make her debut in the ring in a boxing extravaganza at the Commercial Club.
De Jong will be one of 17 bouts on Saturday night.
She said boxing would have been the last sport she expected to be a part of.
“I’ve always been a runner, but I had been doing the group boxing classes,” de Jong said.
“About 12 months ago, my trainer, Steve Dargan, said ‘why don’t you step it up’?
“He convinced me to go into an exhibition bout — it was frightening and exhilarating.
“I’m training for a marathon and the extra work I do on boxing is helping me there too — my core strength is better and I run taller.
“I can’t see why I won’t continue to fight.”
Dargan started with de Jong three years ago.
“It was only personal training to start but Nicole thrives on a challenge,” he said.
“She is in great shape, one of the fittest at the gym and is always looking for a challenge.
“Nicole started with the boxing group and then we had the opportunity for a girl to participate in an exhibition at Corowa — she loved it.”
Promoter Graeme Melbourne said last year the Commercial Club fight night was a sellout.
“This year we look like having 17 fights including a Riverina title fight between Toby Krebbs from Wagga and trained by former Panther, Joe Williams, and Jack Littleton, form Orange, over four rounds,” he said.
